Navy expands training to fight sexual assaults

Actors portray skits concerning sexual harassment scenarios in their production “No Zebras” aboard the amphibious assault ship Makin Island. The skits, using college students from Michigan, are part of the Navy’s anti-sexual assault program.
— Earnie Grafton

Actors portray skits concerning sexual harassment scenarios in their production “No Zebras” aboard the amphibious assault ship Makin Island. The skits, using college students from Michigan, are part of the Navy’s anti-sexual assault program.
— Earnie Grafton

The Department of the Navy has taken the unusual step of employing actors to get out its anti-sexual assault message at a time of intense pressure from the Pentagon and Congress to heal the black eye the U.S. military has acquired about sexual mistreatment of, mostly, women.

On Wednesday, 600 sailors and Marines aboard the San Diego warship Makin Island were among the first here to see a skit-based program by students from Central Michigan University.

It wasn’t like most military training, which depends heavily on PowerPoint slides. There were shrill voices, uncomfortable scenarios, words that might make even a sailor blush.

The program is called “No Zebras” because it teaches troops not to stand by and allow a member of the “herd” — a “zebra” — to be picked off by a predator.

It’s part of a 2-year-old effort by the Navy secretary’s office to focus on young troops, who are most likely to be involved in sexual assaults. The Navy rolled out its so-called bystander intervention strategy as a pilot project in 2010, and has spent at least $870,000 to create programs designed to speak to troops in their own language as they emerge from boot camp.

Jill Loftus, director of the Navy Department’s sexual assault prevention and response office, said internal surveys indicate that assaults among the newest sailors have dropped in recent months, even though official Defense Department numbers show per capita case numbers rising slightly or staying flat for the past four years.

She wouldn’t disclose the internal numbers, saying the sample size is too small.

“What we’ve shown to ourselves over that test period is that you can have an effect on sexual assault and you can reduce incidents,” Loftus said.

According to a 2011 Pentagon publication, there were 3,192 reports of sexual assault involving American troops last year, a 1 percent increase from 2010.

But military leaders acknowledge that the actual number of incidents is much higher. According to estimates released this year by the Navy Department, based on anonymous surveys, 2,485 sailors and 1,453 Marines were sexually attacked in the prior year.

The U.S. military’s image problem related to sexual assaults isn’t new and goes back at least to the 1991 Tailhook Association groping scandal, followed with allegations of mistreatment at the nation’s military academies and in combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The latest chapter involved the Air Force basic training camp at San Antonio, Texas. Military prosecutors have investigated more than a dozen male instructors and charged six with crimes ranging from rape to adultery of female trainees at Lackland Air Force Base.

Last week, the top commander of the basic training unit was ousted. Members of Congress continue to call for a congressional investigation, wanting to know how the situation went on for as long as is alleged.

An award-winning documentary released in January is also putting pressure on military brass. The film, “Invisible War,” features three dozen former troops who were raped while serving, including one San Diego woman. The film accuses the Defense Department of largely ignoring the problem.

The Pentagon since December has announced enhanced standards for handling sexual assault cases.

Now, unit leaders must report rape allegations to someone with the authority to convene a special court-martial, usually a Marine colonel or Navy captain. Also, getting a transfer to a new unit after a sexual assault is supposed to be easier.

But the Pentagon has stopped short of answering the demands of critics who say the decision to investigate and prosecute must be removed from the chain of command, to eliminate conflicts of interest.

In San Diego this week, Loftus said the next steps for the Navy Department are to expand the bystander intervention program to more locations, including Marine bases, where freshly minted service members get initial technical training, called “A school.”

“It’s taken a year to 18 months to get the training right, but it’s impactful, it’s personal, it’s small-group training, it’s in your face. It’s not a check in the box, the way it used to be,” Loftus said.

She promises that that sailors and Marines won’t see a single PowerPoint chart on this topic, anymore.

A few troops from the Makin Island said that the skit format — which at times had the young actors yelling at the audience — captured their attention during a 90-minute program.

“I was able to stay awake,” said 22-year-old sailor Stephan Gabriel. “They kept it real.”